Doghouse (V)

Another British horror-comedy has made my day a little more enjoyable. Doghouse follows the UK tradition of being hilarious and bloody in all the right ways. Between Severance, Lesbian Vampire Killers, Shaun of the Dead, and a few others, the stranglehold on horror-comedy continues for the Brits. It’s good campy fun, and not to be taken seriously. I mention that because this film could be considered quite misogynist and there is no need for the feminist army to revolt over a film that has as much gravitas as thoughts coming from Paris Hilton’s brain.

A group of men, all of whom are in various trouble with the significant others, head off to the country to get some man time. Ya know, time where they can “piss on trees to mark their territory and can get so drunk they can’t remember their own names.” When they get there, they run into a town full of feminist, man-hating, zombie chicks. Banding together, the group must bash, chop, shoot, and beat their way to freedom. Of course, since this is a British flick there is plenty of comedy to go around between the killings of the zombie bitches.

The comedy, while not on par with some of the other films already mentioned, was more than enough. Particularly, the character Banksy had me rolling. He is the slow guy who is always late to everything. Banksy has several misadventures on his way to meeting his friends (which turns out to be a rescue mission unbeknownst to him) only to show up in the least helpful vehicle ever made by man. It’s freaking hilarious laugh out loud stuff.

The gore is well executed and in some cases disturbing. Particularly, the image of the large lady in a Moo Moo, who had a thing for finger-steaks will most likely haunt my nightmares for days to come. Plenty of the deaths are of the bloody messy variety, meaning gorehounds should be satiated.

The plot is very similar to Shaun of the Dead with a rag-tag group trying to survive. So, if you didn’t like that movie, there is almost no chance you will like Doghouse. Copying a great formula can be a good idea if you bring something new to genre. But this ultimately ends up being a failure point for this film. It’s almost too much like the other horror-comedies. Nothing new or exciting was inserted to take the genre to the next level. It’s like a repeat of better material, done with less success. That doesn’t mean it isn’t good. In fact, I would take this film over the vast majority of horror comedies released this year.

It’s endearing, bloody, entertaining, funny, and has memorable characters to boot. Not many horror films can say that (I’m looking at you: 90% of mainstream American horror this year). I thoroughly enjoyed Doghouse and have no problem recommending to fans of British horror comedies the world around.